Different racial disparities in breast cancer treatment may be genetic, according to a newly published study.
Released in the JAMA Network Open, the study, titled “Racial Disparities in Pathological Complete Response Among Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Early-Stage Breast Cancer,” was conducted mainly by researchers from the University of Chicago. Composed of 690 participants, the study focused on breast cancer patients with stage I to III breast cancer who are under treatment with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
After the patients had undergone surgery paired with this particular chemotherapy, the researchers tracked the cancer cells found in each patient. The researchers also tested the tumors to narrow down the specific type of breast cancer and to locate any genetic mutations.
In their results, they found that, although nearly 37% of white participants had a complete response, only 28.6% of Black participants reacted well to the treatment, resulting in a complete absence of cancer cells.
The presence of mutations was found to contribute to these rates. According to the study, amongst the patients with cancers that had the HER2 protein, 30% of Black patients featured a mutation in the MAPK pathway; only 4.6% of white patients had the same mutations.
“That was really striking to us,” said co-author of the study and epidemiologist Dezheng Huo, per medical site Stat News. “In this subtype, treatment should be very successful, so this result is quite alarming. It tells you that when two groups of people with different ancestry get the same treatment for the same subtype of cancer, they have a different response.”
Although Black women have a lower incidence rate when it comes to breast cancer, studies have found that, overall, they are more likely to pass away from cancer.
According to a recent report by the American Cancer Society, in the U.S., white women are diagnosed with breast cancer at higher rates than Black women in all but four states. Despite this, Black women have a higher mortality rate. Breast cancer is identified as the leading cause of cancer death as Black women are less likely to live past five years after their diagnosis when compared to other racial and ethnic groups.
According to the report, disparities in screenings are to account for the lower rates of survival. To help reduce the mortality rate for Black women, the American Cancer Society suggests an increased effort by the healthcare system.
“Coordinated and concerted efforts by policy makers, healthcare systems, and providers are needed to provide optimal breast cancer care to all populations and reduce breast health disparity and accelerate progress against the disease,” said the senior vice president of the American Cancer Society’s Surveillance & Health Equity Science sector, Ahmedin Jemal, per the report. “These efforts include expansion of Medicaid in the 12 non-expansion states and increased investment for new early detection methods and treatments.”
